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Game Thread: The London Calling - Pistons vs Knicks

THE EURO RAP FOR TONIGHT'S GAME COMES FROM ONE OF LONDON'S MOST TALENTED ARTISTS, MYSTRO - PLAY & ENJOY

In the previous matchup between the two, the Knicks took a huge 121-100 win at Madison Square Garden

Carmelo Anthony led New York with 29 points while Jr Smith and Raymond Felton came in double-doubles. 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Smith and 14 points and 10 dimes for Felton! Let's go back and enjoy Crazy8s' top 10 plays of that game again!

That said, let's take a look at the starting lineups!

That's right, Iman Shumpert is going to start in hist first game since he went out with that nasty injury if the doctors clear him out! [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Game Preview

Iman Shumpert has been cleared to make his season debut for the Knicks today against the Detroit Pistons in London.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson will speak to team doctors before finalizing his rotation for the game but hinted that he will insert the second-year pro into his starting lineup at shooting guard along side Jason Kidd.

But he plans to manage the minutes of Shumpert who is returning after seven months out following an ACL injury.

“We’ll probably play him in 3-4 minute spans. That’s about it,” said Woodson at the Knicks shootaround Thursday morning at The 02 Arena. “But three, four minutes is significant in terms of winning games.”

That, he said, would point to a starting five of Kidd, Shumpert, Chris Copeland, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler, who has recovered from illness.

Woodson maintains there is no date set for when Rasheed Wallace might return to action.

But he cannot foresee a future for the veteran forward which includes a coaching job.

“I doubt that,” Woodson said. “I don’t know if it’s about money with Rasheed. I just don’t know if he would even have the patience to do it. I think he’s got the mindset. But you have got to have patience to do this.”

CHANDLER BACK: Tyson Chandler admits being back at venue which was known as the North Greenwich Arena during last summer’s Olympics has been special -- some five months after he received his gold medal as part of the victorious USA squad.

“It just brings back incredible memories,” said Chandler. “The first time I walked back into this arena. I just remember looking up after we won the game and seeing my children jumping up and down. For them to be center court and hear my national anthem being played still gives me chills."

BACK IN THE UK: Knicks shooting coach Dave Hopla returns to the UK after previously spending a number of years as a shooting guard with St. Gall’s, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Hopla, who also played in South America and the CBA, joined the Knicks last fall after spells as a consultant with the Raptors and Wizards. And it is a very different world now to when he was in his pro career.

“I arrived and we ended up going up to Dublin in a lorry and then we were picked up and taken to Ulster Polytechnic for practice,” he recalled. “I loved every moment I was there. I have some pictures I show people from when I was over there. They always say: ‘I thought you said you were with the same team the whole time.’ I had to explain they changed the sponsor every year.”

One of the media in London, John Wynne of thecourtsidecollective.com, was a ballboy with St. Gall’s when his father Sean was a teammate of Hopla’s. “He was one of the greatest shooters we ever saw in the Irish League,” Wynne confirmed.

sweet succinct GT Rady! nice to include C8's video of top plays, methinks a homage perhaps...

- the gif of Iman/Big Ben is classic!
- dig the Mystro tunes, thanks for that.

even if Shump only plays 3/4 minutes at a time, his presence is going to help immensely.
anything he does on the O or D is going to be celebrated by Knicks and fans alike.
I like yr possible starting lineup with Cope/Shump/Kidd/Melo/Chandler.
with STAT/JR getting 30, and Novak/Prig getting their minutes, this already formidable
squad just got much better.

gotta be weird for Shump, first game back in a totally unfamiliar place. cool vibes for
Melo/Chandler, back to their palace of greatness.

Good luck to all KO members in attendance! have a great time, wave to the cameras,
take pics, and say hi to Clyde for me.

The Knicks have to do their best at slowing down the Pistons. They need to get off to a good start. It seems like in the last month they've only gotten off to one good start which was in the Spurs game. Enough of this allowing teams to bury them early. The defense needs to be better now that Iman Shumpert is going to see some playing time. And Amar'e needs to step it up on both ends of the court if he is going to receive more minutes.

Im feeling that Euro Rap Rady, excellent game thread. I cant wait to see Shump back, this is on the low a very important game for us. We need to handle our business. The Celtics, Pacers, and Nets all lost last night. We're getting healthier so its time to put some space between us and any team not from the city of Miami.

We are still right there with Miami though, and the Heat play the Lakers tonight. I dont think the Heat match up well with them at all and heres why:

Kobe > Wade

Bron cant back down World Peace

Dwight Howard has proven in the past hes a problem for Lebron and im assuming Wade too. He'll protect the paint as long as he stays outta foul trouble.